Debunking the Myth: Is Maduro a Dictator? Later, investigators found a receipt, with Bensons palm print, for the purchase of pieces of pipe and end caps used in the bomb. He never looked at anybody, says Murphy, who sat right behind Benson during the trial. The Trustees have not presented reasonable grounds for attributing the settlors scheme to their section of the trustee exercised on November 27, 1985, following the death of Ms. Benson. Prosecutors argued that Steven had engineered the whole idea of the early-morning trip to view the huge -- 17,000-square-foot -- residence his mother was building nearby in the same exclusive subdivision. On July 9, 1985 Benson placed a car bomb on the family car, in which Margaret, Scott, and Steven's sister, Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, (a former Miss Florida runner-up) were waiting for Steven to join them in the vehicle when the Suburban exploded. The prosecution's evidence is entirely circumstantial. He said Steven was laughing. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, a former Naples City Council candidate, is now a lawyer in Broward County focusing on family law and real estate. . Im hot! from the burning car. Defense lawyer Mike McDonnell, who represented Benson along with attorney Jerry Berry, said it was one of the first trials to have televised gavel-to-gavel coverage.. We learned about the passing of Carol Lynn Benson Kendall on May 23, 2022. His second wife Debra was not in the courtroom, or even in Florida. Though police initially called the blast, caused by two pipe bombs, a big mystery, it didnt take them long to zero on one suspect: Steven Benson. She, of course, was referring to Margaret. To Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, this question is, in a sense, peripheral. BOSTON (AP) _ Tobacco heiress Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, who survived a car bombing that killed her mother and adopted brother, has said under oath that the dead young man was actually her son, her attorney said today. She thought he had been embezzling family funds and had called her attorney to check into it. Mrs. Kendalls attorney, E. Richard Cirace of Boston, confirmed the report. . You can also browse other available content for Carol Lynn Benson Kendall on IMDb such as filmography, trivia, personal details, etc. Joyce Quinn, Margaret Benson's quiet and polite young secretary who'd lasted but three months in the job before realizing there had to be saner employment, testified that Margaret "paid for everything for Scott" -- his cars (among them two Lotuses, a sports car that costs $45,000 to $50,000) his van, his Cigarette speedboat, his apartment and furniture, repairs, his tennis lessons, his clothes and his gas credit cards. Tragically, Hitchcock turned out to be right about his grandson. It was her sister, Margaret, 63, and her nephew, Scott, 21, who had died in a horrific car explosion in Florida. Related story: Naples pipe bomb killer Steven Benson dies in prison. Murphy said her father sent Sands as a gesture of goodwill. He had very few visitors. Minutes later the Suburban erupted into flames. Benson, then 33, was running out of it and wanted to inherit his mother's. That she was once a beauty contest winner is easy to see. The Daughter and Her Son. No mental problems, he was just evil., The case garnered national attention, and four authors later wrote books about it. Benson was sentenced to life in prison. In prison records, Benson listed the oldest of his three children, twins Victoria and Christopher, as his next of kin. To my knowledge, Scott never confronted his mother with the question. The only survivor of the blast, Steven Benson's sister, Carol Lynn. Landscaping. By July 8, the day before the bombing, Margaret had learned of Steven's new house in Fort Myers, according to testimony. Benson was arrested and ultimately convicted of planting two pipe bombs in the family's SUV, then coaxing everyone into the vehicle before blowing it up. The family and everybody just treated his grandmother as Scotts mother, the attorney said. Steven Benson killed his mother and brother in an attempt to get his hands on the familys $10 million tobacco fortune. Dad was very religious, she said. Retired U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agent Frank Kendall -- no relation to Carol Lynn -- testified that the palm print Steven Benson voluntarily gave the police in the summer of 1985 and the palm print on the pipe invoice were "made by the same person." Janet Murphy, Steven Bensons maternal aunt, said no one in the family ever patched things up with him, and he has never as much as admitted to the crime. How it wasnt run correctly. Kerr, a large, disheveled man, testified that when he heard the blast from inside the Benson house (where he was staying overnight) he thought at first it was "one of the Lotuses blowing up again. Steven Bensons late father didnt think he was capable of doing anything, Cirace said, an assessment that apparently was correct as Benson, who grew up and lived in Lancaster most of his life, left behind a series of failed business ventures. His face got really red. He just kept a straight face.. People had suspicions as to why, after having two children of her own, all of a sudden Mrs. Benson adopts a third.. The Steven Benson case drew national media coverage in 1986. Naples Daily News 0:00 1:22 Steven Benson is led into the Collier County jail complex on the day of his arrest in 1985. Its still fresh in my memory, he said. That day, she and Wayne Kerr drove to Fort Myers, and when she saw Steven's new house, and the new Datsun sports car parked in front, she was, as Kerr testified, "angry. Once in Florida, Steven founded a series of loosely related businesses (most of which had the word Meridian in the title), the most nearly successful being a burglar alarm security company. [8], Benson died at Taylor Correctional Institution in Perry, Florida of a stab wound to the right side of the head with a homemade knife on July 3, 2015. My relationship with Tracy was always a very turbulent one. Steven Bensons trial is scheduled to begin in Naples, Fla., on Nov. 13. He is also charged with the attempted murder of his sister, Carol Lynn. I have a strong feeling Steven Benson also knew, Cirace said. McDonnell closed with a string of witnesses, most of them prisoners, who testified as to Scott Benson's less than sterling character, arguing that this indicated Scott had been the target, and that Margaret and Carol Lynn were unlucky enough to be along for the ride. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. After the shaking incident, Margaret had her secretary compile a list of everything she'd bought for Scott in the last two years. [9][10] Benson was in a long running feud with Cordell Washington, another inmate at the facility. When he returned, they said, he prepared to join his family to look at a piece of land his mother had bought. Nervously at first, but then more calmly, she testified in response to the prosecutor's questions. In the second half of 2015, there were close to 200 inmate deaths in Florida's prisons. Error! By the time the closing statements were presented, the evidence was clear, Bennett said. The murder of Margaret and Scott Benson in 1985 drew national crime coverage never seen before and rarely since to Naples. Those involved with the case say they are surprised at how it still resonates in peoples minds, and their own lives. Also in the car were her two children, 21-year-old Scott, who died, and 41-year-old Carol Lynn, who was badly injured but survived. Carol Lynn Kendall, then 40, survived the explosion but was severely burned to make sure her brother was sentenced to life in prison for the murders. ", Carol Lynn told investigators, in a statement taken after she was released from the hospital where she had been treated for severe burns and had begun the long process of reconstructive surgery, that while her mother was scared of Scott, Margaret Benson felt that Steven was the only one who would actually harm her for her money: "She wouldn't put it past Steven to do away with her. Steven Benson is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 2, and prosecutors have asked for a life sentence. She said she will never forget that moment. However, she continued to pamper him. Carol Lynn testified that she thought Scott's being there was a "silly request. Carol Lynn Kendall unsuccessfully ran for a Naples City Council seat while living in Port . Under Florida law, Steven Benson is precluded from receiving proceeds of the estate of the person he murdered, Hayes said. Please enable JavaScript to properly view our site. Photo Gallery. At first, Murphy thought her niece, Carol Lynn Kendall, 40, also had died, but she found out that she was badly burned but had survived. emains listed on the DOC website as an open investigation led by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Dwight Brock, who prosecuted the case with his brother Jerry, called the trial a spectacle for the media. (Now the clerk of courts, Brock said he has read three of the four books about the crime. But by late 1984 and early 1985, they argue, she was coming to the conclusion that bankrolling Steven was something less than sound. Within this circle, there was lots of money. It r Our prayers and thoughts are with the family and loved ones of Carol. The siblings did not return phone messages Friday. ), After a brief rebuttal by the prosecution, Judge Hayes let the jury go. 'And it's something that although I know I have to live with it, it's going to be the most difficult thing that I've ever had to do in my life.'. As the trial date neared (there were several postponements before it finally began July 14) it became obvious that the large amounts of money involved meant that there would be a lot of lawyers on both sides of the courtroom trial. Sands said he was only allowed to speak with Steven Benson for a couple of minutes because he wasnt family. She wanted an accounting and, if it had to be, a confrontation with Steven. I dont think he believed he belonged in there.. Young had several reasons to suspect Benson. Carol Lynn Benson Kendall, Appellant/Petitioner, v. Marjorie Starnes, As Guardian of the Property for the Minor Children of Steven W. Benson, and Steven W. Benson, Appellees/Respondents. He was 63, the same age his mother was when he killed her. I just cant imagine. Release Calendar Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. . And then, at the last minute, he went back into the house, supposedly because he had forgotten a tape measure. You could see a hateful heart in Steven then. On the morning of the explosion, the entire family agreed to inspect the land at Stevens suggestion. This orange thing was all around me. Movies. Florida authorities have charged Steven Benson, Mrs. Kendall's 34-year-old natural brother, with setting the blast outside . There had been general rumors (about the boys parentage) going around Lancaster, where the family was brought up, Cirace said. Collier Circuit Judge Hugh D. Hayes issued the ruling Monday. But everyone agreed that she had done so well, it might be unwise to risk a second appearance. Lending her emotional support was her grandfather, Harry Hitchcock, who had made a dramatic appearance in the courtroom at 8:25 a.m. and stayed the entire day. Steven said he was sorry but that he already had a business meeting. Hitchcocks daughter, Margaret, it turned out, was not really the mother of Scott Benson. 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